


A Day in the Life of Nancy

by StarGazer333



Series: A Day in the Life of... [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, Good Sibling Nancy Wheeler, POV Nancy Wheeler, Post-Season/Series 03, Post-Time Skip, Sad Nancy Wheeler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:15:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25891186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarGazer333/pseuds/StarGazer333
Summary: Nancy decides to get Back to the Future on VHS for her and Mike. Little does she know Steve and Robin work at the video store.
Relationships: Jonathan Byers & Nancy Wheeler, Mike Wheeler & Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington & Nancy Wheeler
Series: A Day in the Life of... [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878046
Kudos: 27





	A Day in the Life of Nancy

## 

November 22nd, 1985

Almost two months had passed since the Byers and El left Hawkins. Nancy knew things would be much different, but she couldn’t have prepared herself for how boring it would be. Figuring out how to spend each day was quite difficult without Jonathan.

Mike appeared in her bedroom doorway. They had been spending a lot more time together. “Do you know where the TV remote is?” he asked.

“Did Dad seriously lose it again?” Nancy said. Mike nodded. “No, I don’t. Hey, I was thinking, do you want to see if Back to the Future is out on VHS?”

“I guess, sure. What else have I got to do?” Without El, Mike also had nothing to do. “Although mom wants me to help her make clam chowder for some reason.”

“Well, I’ll be back soon then.” Nancy grabbed her car keys and walked past Mike. Downstairs, she let Karen know she was going to the video store before heading out the front door into the frigid air.

Her first car happened to be the same model as Jonathan’s. She wished she could show it to him, go places with him in it, but he was two states away and wouldn’t be visiting Hawkins until Christmas. Nancy hadn’t been so excited for Christmas in years.

She chatted with him over the phone at least once a week, but that was a lot different than actually seeing him. He seemed to be doing okay at his new school, at least. She remembered in their last talk, he mentioned El was depressed, and after what happened to Hopper, Nancy couldn’t blame her.

She parked at the video store and froze for a moment as she got out of the car. Through the window she saw Steve helping a customer, and behind the counter stood that one girl he was with at Starcourt on the 4th of July. Part of her was tempted to get right back in the car and go home emptyhanded. But she had to at least try to get the Back to the Future VHS to see for herself what all the hype was about, even if that meant interacting with Steve.

As she walked in she absentmindedly wondered if Robin was Steve’s girlfriend. “Nancy?”

Looking at him was strange - like she was sixteen again. “Hey, um… I came to see if Back to the Future is on VHS.”

“Right over here.” Steve led her to an entire shelf lined with them. Half of them were gone.

“Thanks.”

Steve lingered by her for a few moments. “Is there anything else you need?” Nancy shook her head and he walked off. Talking to him again was awkward, but not as bad as she thought it would be. She grabbed one of the VHS’s and went to the counter.

“Suddenly I’m experiencing déjà vu,” Robin said, her eyes locked on Nancy’s.

“Yeah, I was at Starcourt on the 4th of July,” Nancy said with a nervous laugh. “I’m Nancy, nice to meet you.”

“Oh that’s right. Good to meet you formally, Nancy.” Robin glanced from Nancy to Steve, then back to Nancy, who wanted nothing more than to pay and go home. The idea of Steve telling Robin about her made her light-headed. “That’ll be six dollars even.”

Nancy handed Robin the bills, got her receipt and took one last look at Steve before exiting. Now it was snowing - the flakes were extraordinarily large and coming down in waves. She hastily got in her car, escaping the blizzard. On the way home her thoughts wandered. She was glad Steve seemed to be doing all right. There was never a time she didn’t like him - he was a great person. The thing was, she never _loved_ him, and pretending she did was the worst part of being with him.

But those days were over. Yet again, so were the ones with Jonathan. She started tearing up as she pulled into the driveway, realizing just how alone she was. For a couple minutes she just sat there crying. But then she dried her tears.

She still had her family. Lately she thought of Mike as more of a friend than just a brother. Her dad watched TV all day and could sometimes be frustrating but he wasn’t a bad dad, her mom was the strongest woman she knew, and Holly was growing up fast. It wasn’t always a family she was proud of, but they were always there for her, and that was more than enough.


End file.
